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The collective blindness of modern popular culture dictates that one has no finger on the pulse of music lest one has seen every season of American Idol and America’s Got Talent. While my curiosity tends to get the best of me regarding the latter, Idol bears the status of being a most-overrated cliche (and I’m certain the other show will someday follow). As I stated in my review of The Jonas Brothers, “pop music in all of its incarnations is both a blessing and a curse.” Behold the curse.
Unlike classy talent shows of yore such as Star Search, the nation’s unassuming public follows “meme-in-the-making” auditions, packed with Hung-wannabes and other internet fodder, only to later see our champions berated by a smug Englishman and two has-been pop stars…and this is considered funny. While the mindset of America is easily swayed by lesser humor than even Seth Rogen can muster, the same audience of voters hailed one act as significantly different from the others, and his name is Daughtry.
Apparently my Spidey-senses were not tingling at full strength, or else I could have seen this abomination coming. In the midst of bad-boy sensitivity (tapped into by regulars Nickelback, Hinder etc.), Daughtry tried a different avenue by being the “rock crooner” tucked away in a sea of likely cookie-cutter pop candidates. If there were ever a generic means of becoming a success, American Idol is it, and Daughtry is the poster child for “faux bad ass”.
Daughtry comes from my home state of North Carolina, where countless of supporters flocked to purchase his eponymous debut three years ago. The fan base here is huge, but go figure that a state which boasts the likes of Ben Folds would pay quadruple the price of his concerts to go see Daughtry because he represents “the every man”. No, he represents the very thing that is killing good taste, because he is a mockery of rock music. He is what Stewie of Family Guy would call one of many “douchebags who killed the guitar” — though Daughtry is more of a vocalist.
Leave This Town is Daughtry’s sophomore release; it’s the culmination of dwindling American Idol hype and what happens when a country boy who bolsters the “bad ass image” suddenly becomes yesterday’s hit machine, rehashing 80s rock wails with a little modern glaze thrown in. This is opposed to the first album, which could easily have been anyone else’s record — 3 Doors Down, Saving Abel, the list goes on.
I refuse to argue about Daughtry’s vocal talent because he does have some of that down pat, and he’s the perfect spearhead for his genre…southern pop rock. But honestly, can anyone truly take a man seriously when his medium of choice was officially American Idol? Daughtry is purely manufactured, down to the image. Despite his talent, he could have easily made it on his own with a little effort, but he opted for the cheap ticket instead. For someone who claims he fronts the middle class, he sure knows how to play it slick.
This reviewer prides himself on playing things straight, no filler. This is why I cannot endorse Daughtry, because in spite of everything he supposedly stands for, he is the amalgam of every single other artist in his genre and unabashedly so. There is a fine line between influence and outright aping, and this mock neanderthal slid right into his respective class of primate with both albums. Leave This Town tries even harder to be something it is not while simultaneously copying everything in reach, with tracks like “You Don’t Belong” and “Call Your Name” sounding like Hoobastank tracks from the cutting-room floor, or “Tennessee Line” attempting country and possibly being the only near sincere effort present.
Do yourself a favor; buy albums from the other artists mentioned in this article before wasting money or bandwidth on Daughtry’s sophomore release. Then maybe he might “leave this town” for good.
Check Out:
“You Don’t Belong”
Buy:
Leave This Town
See:
On Tour Now!
TAGGED AS: Daughtry
comments (27)
I am a little late to this convo but I have to say-WOW-jealous much??? Chris is more than a singer. He is a writer as well. Open Your Eyes is epic within the writing and musical aspect of it. September is another Home, and Ghost of Me is screeming rock classic. Your lost in your hate man. big time!! Try reading the words to the songs. They are actually intellegent unlike many bands out there that you love and that to me just make noise.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion so here is mine. Who cares where he started. I have seen him twice in concert. It was explosive and amazing. He has a great voice and needs no clean up in the studio so already he has beat out all these modern-day artists that lip synch and sound synchronized. He got a chance that many would love so more power to him. He is fun, a great family man, eye candy, has charisma and is very talented. I think there is a place for his music in this world, maybe not your CD player but definitely mine for some daily escapism. He no longer works at a 9-5 job and I am happy he got his dream. Who of us gets that chance? You can Google “Daughtry” and it is endless. Funny, I Googled you and I found nothing. (I am giving you the boo-boo lip right now). Get to bed now, you gotta get up for work. So do I.
YAY! I love this review most of all because it reminds me to go wallow in the bliss that was your reasonable 3/5 Jonas Brothers album review, for which I may just LOVE YOU FOREVER. (Also, loving your commentary and reviews in general since that piece pulled me aboard your RSS feed. Keep up the good work.)
A+ review. We need a revolution. Manufactured crap.
LOL!!!! I love this very insightful review!
I *TOTALLY* agree with you. Daughtry – er, baldie is nothing but a rip-off no talent act that got lucky. There was as reason he lost American Idol – placing #4. He’s an uninteresting pseudo rocker who plays one on stage but in reality is no more a original rock singer than my aunt louise.
Save your money people as skip this and all future attempts at music from this person.
Apparently Daughtry fans are idiots. Enough with saying he thinks he’s so cool for giving Daughtry a shitty review. He doesn’t think he’s cool, he probably, just thinks Daughtry is a fuckin fag who sounds like EVERY OTHER BAND in this genre that has released a noise since 2001.
Get over yourselves, you’ll probably come to your senses in 5 years when you get sick of listening to the same shit and realize we were right.
In reference to Daughtry’s prior band outings before American Idol, the whole thing with Absent Element merely reflects what was stated previously…
…he could have easily made it on his own steam, but opted for the tackiness that is American Idol thereby creating a concept about a figure which people inherently bought into.
By the way – as per the correlation between Billboard charts and album quality – a “truckload” of award wins does not automatically constitute quality of show/record or otherwise. Pretty statuettes do not signify anything but industry politics and popularity, and neither characteristic should earn the idolatry you shower this artist with.
Daughtry chose an easy way out dealing with Idol stagehands and his entire persona is a farce to be wrecked swiftly, unlike myself who would prefer to be “uncool” in others’ eyes than a completely bogus representation of anything else.
Daughtry’s the perfect spearhead for his genre…southern pop rock.
This was probably one of the very few, if not the only, accurate comment about the album that you made. The rest of your review was obviously influenced by your obsession with shows like American Idol and America’s Got Talent. You should also spend less time listening to mainstream rock radio, thus your knowledge for said genre and disdain for the bands playing this style of music would certainly diminish over time…
This way, when you later hear an album like “Leave This Town”, you’ll be able to appreciate it for what it is…southern pop rock!
AI is merely a stage for young musicians to display their talents. What is wrong with that? So far, it’s produced an Oscar winner, Golden Globe, and a truck full of Grammys.
Sorry, I don’t get this review. It’s from someone who wants terribly to be “cool”, but has so much prejudice, they are, oops, “uncool”.
LOLChris Daughtry produced an album with his first band Cadence in 1999. He also fronted Absent Element, which produced an album in 2005. I guess 6 years of trying doesn’t qualify as the “little effort” needed to “easily” make it on one’s own. It’s a little telling that you also rip on Simon Cowell while so obviously trying to emulate his directness, but unlike Simon your criticism lacks any constructive value. Why so? You reluctantly admit Chris has vocal talent, after all. I guess you’re out to save the public some money. Too late. The album already hit #1. I guess your audience is limited. I stumbled here myself and won’t be coming back. Cheers!
hey man even vanilla ice doesn’t like vanilla ice
Tony,
I could placate your frustrated ego a bit by remaining silent but what would be the point? Understandably artists in the same genre/sub-genre/et cetera will sound similar on given levels, however there is still originality to be had.
Examples being:
Rihanna sounds nothing like Janet Jackson
Eminem sounds nothing like Sage Francis
Brooks & Dunn sound nothing like Montgomery GentryIf you take Daughtry into account, it literally pulled from every single generic post-2000 release in its respective category. Daughtry’s sophomore effort actually lacks (in my humble opinion) compared to his debut because Leave This Town tries way too hard to be relevant and winds up becoming stagnant.
How can you say this review shows my age? If that is to suggest I do not dip into a variety of genres and decades you are sorely mistaken. Sorry if this review did not appease some sense of self-righteous celebrity worship, but that is not my job.
PS: American Idol is a valid target of rhetoric and slander because it became more of a joke than a talent show by Season 5 at best – not due to typical pop culture satire a la Weird Al but via its own cut-and-dry plainness and “shock humor” trimmings courtesy of Cowell and Co.
I can at least respect outlets like YouTube or MySpace due to unrivaled fan service and gratifying DIY ethic.
You guys need to re-fucking-lax on getting all bent out of shape when it comes to people’s album reviews. This is a music website, in which they review albums, and if you don’t like the review, then find another website where they give shitty butt-rock albums a good review you fuckin hessians.
It doesn’t make someone a music snob if they don’t like a Chris fuckin Daughtry album. Every album isn’t going to get a good review. And to be honest, this review is probably 100% accurate, Daughtry fuckin sucks dude, are you kidding me?
And don’t give me this bullshit about how “he’s had the number one ROCK album for 2 years straight.” I know it’s true (much to my chagrin) but in early the 90’s, shitty artists like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice also had the top selling albums in their respective genres — and I don’t hear too many people claiming that Vanilla and Hammer are talented musicians.
Bottom line, and we’re all entitled to our own opinions, but in my opinion, Daughtry is shit. People don’t give him bad reviews because he was on American Idol, they give him bad reviews because he sucks and sounds like a fat kid trying to clear his throat. Only ignorant hicks would even think to bring the American Idol argument into account because they think that show is for “queers and assholes” or something ridiculous like that.
But David Buchanan, I stand by your review. I’m guessing this album sounds like every other shitty buttrock album out there, whether it’s Nickelback or those pubes who sing “Lips of an Angel.” I can’t believe people would give this guy so much credit for having such an unoriginal sound.
“There is nothing I hate more than sending some
stupid critic go to review one of my favorite bands live show and they write a hideous review that no one cares about as they obviously hate the band.”Well, Mark, Maybe you should review the Daughtry album. While you’re at it, review every other band that sounds exactly like him. You could just copy and paste the reviews to suit. I hope you get to that right after your mother reviews your shit-stained underwear.
Wow!! What a lazy, trite review!! Your own words say it all. You cannot take Daughtry seriously because he got his start on American Idol. Well unlike you alot of people yook this music seriously, since Daughtry was the #1 selling ROCK album for two years in a row. Why you did not let someone review this CD who could be objective is beyond me.
Your rant clearly shows your advancing age. The music landscape has changed significantly over the last couple of decades. Scouts are not out there looking for undiscovered talent in small bars and towns. Record companies cannot afford to nurture artists, like they once did. Artists are being discovered various ways today; the internet, you-tube, my space and yes, even American Idol. To suggest that just being on a reality show at all negates talent is preposterous and idiotic.
Leave this Town is a very solid Sophmore CD. It is not proclaiming to be the best thing since slice bread. It is not trying to be U2 or the Rolling Stones. It is not trying to change the musical landscape. It is just an awesome post-grunge CD by an artist with an amazing voice, singing songs that touch a chord and feel sincere. If that is not to your liking, then so be it. This CD never claimed to be for everyone.
Almost every new act out there is compared to, or sounds similar to someone else. All country music sounds similar, most rap sounds the same, there is a Mow-town sound. Different artists in the same genre sound similar. To suggest that this is Aping, indicates an immature thought process.
Chris Daughtry has never claimed to be an everday man. It is a label put on him by people like yourself. He just wants to make a living doing what he loves.
As a critic, I give you a half star. Your snobbery shines through. You sound very stale. This critique was just a complete rip on someone you obviously DO NOT GET. It has no substance and it warrants no merit. Daughtry’s music inspires alot of people and evokes emotional relatedness. What is your claim to fame? Maybe it is you who should Leave This Town, because you are inconsequential.
I dont get why you even bothered to review the CD on this
site. I never listen to Daughtry, but if you are going to
review a cd, let someone who actually likes the music review
the album. I’m sure a fan of daughtry music can write a fair review of his music.There is nothing I hate more than sending some
stupid critic go to review one of my favorite bands live show and they write a hideous review that no one cares about as they obviously hate the band.The only reason I read the review was that it was so out of place for this site that I though it must be great review and maybe I should pay attention.
You’re retarded.
PS. Just because someone holds a high standard of what is considered “good music” does not make them out of touch or a grandpa. Dickhead.
This review is dead-on. I despise this music. I have absolutely no idea how ANYONE can stand to listen to this lukewarm pond water music. It has no backbone and no soul. Every band you mentioned in this review appeals to the musical Hellen Keller. Thank you for this review. *END RANT*
Ah, the modern glow of a flamer-laden computer monitor warms the cockles of my heart.
I don’t get my jollies off on ripping into Daughtry (okay, maybe a smidgen), but frankly the direction of the music industry in all of its glory and gaffes bears no reasonable excuse for this particular artist meat-grinding at present. When the show that bolstered its reputation with a talent like Kelly Clarkson is reduced to pandering mediocre rock stars and internet in-jokes, respect is dually compromised.
There is both good and bad when it comes to radio tunes, and when your entire image (any iota of talent notwithstanding) boils down to pure plastic one must draw a line in the sand.
I do not consider myself elitist on any level and those who have read my past work can see this clearly (Jonas Bros., NOFX, etc.), so I resent any such implication. I am not to blame if listening to Daughtry’s two albums in tandem agitated my stomach worse than my mother’s meat loaf.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
PS – Seth Rogen is overrated.
Ripping on Daughtry, cool. Ripping on Seth Rogen, uncool.
This review may be a little harsh but it is dead on with the entirely manufactured image and meaningless genre of popular radio rock. I have no biases against AI, as I actually think Kelly Clarkson has made good music and Carrie Underwood I hate but can’t deny that she’s talented. But daughtry did take the easy way out by making terrible music simply because the radio will play it. Whatever you think, you can’t deny his music is awful.
Also is that a shot at Seth Rogen? WTF?
Wow, do you feel cooler now for ripping Daughtry?
Go ahead and critique his music, if you really even listened to the CD, but don’t knock a person because he/she got his break on American Idol.
It just makes you look like a music snob, rather than someone who cares about the music. I guess you’re repping the Indie artists who hold out for their art, and perform in tiny clubs and bars, the epitome of the starving artist.
what you fail to acknowledge is how poorly the mainstream music industry has been at finding new talent because they got lazy and, in your case crotchety, remembering the good old days.
Well news flash, the music industry isn’t what it was even ten years ago, and you sound a wee bit nostalgic for it. Never gonna happen.
I agree that some of Daughtry’s music sounds like music from Nickleback and Hinder, but that’s what is popular right now.
So, sorry to break it to you gramps. But your review just made you look like someone who’s totally out of touch.
I beg to differ! Daughtry is an amazing artist who happened to end up on American Idol. And it’s not true that he could have made it on his own “with very little effort”. You know how many talented artist are out there that have been performing for ages and still haven’t made it?!?!
Anything for the sake of art, as they say.
your review C-
haha what was the point of putting up randy johnson blow up that bird?
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